Urimqi ?, i have not been there, but hear there is still some civil unrest, it's just not in the china news here.

I am just back from my 2nd trip to Huhhot this july, Its the capital city of Inner mongolia, (IM) a neat place & only an hour flight from BJ at 620 rmb one way.
The largest city in IM is Baotou about a 2 hour drive from Huhhot, also a neat city with some IM culture areas for tourists. Both cities are very safe.

far west- & self guided- try Chengdu & search this forum for those comments